1. Field of the Invention
A connector system includes a plurality of conductor piercing units supported by a frame for vertical displacement between upper disconnected and lower connected positions relative to a plurality of parallel spaced insulated conductors supported in a horizontal plane by a base plate. The piercing units are displaced between said upper and lower positions by operating disks eccentrically mounted for rotation on a horizontal support shaft that extends between an opposed pair of side walls of the frame. The base plate, frame and piercing unit assembly are arranged in an open-topped support housing that is closed by a cover member or lid. Electrical components are mounted on the lid for connection with the piercing unit assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Conductor connection devices are well known in the patented prior art, as evidenced by the U.S. patent to Arlitt et al U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,961, and the German patent No. DE 297 08 222 U1, among others. These connection devices are used to make branches on a plurality of continuous conductors, without having to cut the continuous conductors. For this purpose, plurality of groove-like seats is made on a base plate in which seats one can insert a flat cable or a plurality of electrical conductors, parallel to each other. Then an upper part is put on in order to fix the conductors or the flat cable. Upon this preassembled unit, that is provided with partitions, one then locks clamp-like bodies in one swing motion which in each case are provided with an insulation-penetrating contact that is connected via a bus bar with two tension spring clamps for the connection of branching conductors. In this way, one can make, in each case, two branches upon each conductor without having to separate the continuing conductors.
It is also known that one can arrange connecting discs on a shaft, rotatably upon a bottom plate. But that design did not work satisfactorily because the conductors must be inserted laterally, so that this arrangement is not suitable for assembly on previously installed continuous cables.
The present invention therefore starts with the typical state of the art and intends to optimize the latter in terms of construction design. The invention creates a connection system by means of which one can in a simple manner make connection devices performing various functions, building upon a kind of base unit by exchanging the lid closure members.
This measure makes it possible, among other things, to provide a simple and secure mounting of the flat cable conductors with a compact structure. This structure has a cover housing or a base housing and is then combined with a functional lid, depending upon the task to be performed, whereby the supplied lids of the system are designed either merely for coverage or are provided with additional functional elements, in particular, electrical structural elements, plug connections or manual switches, luminous diodes, miscellaneous other displays or the like.
The functional elements in this case are preferably arranged directly above the actual base connection device, something which reduces the surface requirement of the connection devices of the connection system.
In design terms, the arrangement of the connection device as such is definitely further simplified, when compared to the state of the art, because, for wiring purposes, it preferably employs IDC contacts that can be worked without any screws, in particular, fork contacts. The module frame is well suited for absorbing the forces especially during the wiring phase. In the process, the connection module as such creates a unit that can already be pre-assembled by the manufacturer, which unit absorbs the essential wiring forces without excessively overloading the bottom plate. In this way it is moreover possible in a simple manner to contact both the continuous conductors and the branch conductors (at any rate, when one employs direct plug contacts), in a simple fashion. There is no need for putting on individual disks, although each of the conductors remains individually arranged for connection.
The continuing conductors for instance can be the continuous conductors of a flat cable or some other cable—for instance, a round cable—whose cable sheath was removed in the area of the connection system, whereby the continuous conductors—in this area where the sheath has been stripped away—are inserted into the seats in the bottom plate.
For the purpose of contacting, only the pre-assembled connection module need to be put on whereupon the connection disks must be pushed into the contact position and the conductor ends are inserted into the branch conductors. In that way, one can quickly and subsequently assemble a branch also upon an already installed cable.
Preferably, the connection disks and thus especially also the insulation-penetrating contacts arranged thereupon, are so made that they can be simply pushed in the actuation shafts, in order to ensure a clearly defined contacting perpendicularly to the extent of the conductors. In that way one can advantageously avoid a swing motion of the insulation penetrating contacts during contacting.
Preferably, actuation devices are associated with the connection disks for the purpose of moving, especially shifting of the connection disks in the actuation shafts. In that way, the connection disks are moved as a whole in a defined manner in the module shafts, something that assures large-surface sliding bearing and defined guidance of the IDC contacts during the contacting of the conductors.
Here it is particularly advantageous when the actuation devices are made as eccentric devices with eccentric disks, because the latter facilitate a high degree of force transmission in a narrow space.